Cliffside oasis: Rosetta McClain Gardens
The Western end of the Scarborough Bluffs starts at Birchmount Park. The park itself is utilitarian, with grass and a baseball diamond. There's no access to the Bluffs down Birchmount, so cyclists, motorists and pedestrians have to turn left on Kingston Road.
Further east is Rosetta McClain Gardens. Overlooking the Bluffs and the majestic expanse of Lake Ontario, the Gardens offer a calming profusion of colours, scents and sound: Black-Eyed Susans, astrids, snapdragons, echinacea, ferns of all shapes and sizes, roses, daisies, petunias, just to name a few samples of the flora, are planted carefully in and around bushes and trees. Monarch butterflies mingle with smaller white cousins. You might catch a rare russet squirrel as it scurries up a tree. Water tumbles, splashing, from a boulder fountain.
A plaque at the main entrance explains the gardens are from a 40-acre farm bought in 1904-05 by Thomas Donald West. They had four children, Rosetta being one of them. She died in 1940. Her husband gave the property to the city of Toronto in her memory in 1959. In 1977, it was combined with other portions of the original West landholdings. By 1985, the park spanned 23 acres. It includes scent gardens and texture paths.
Near the entrance are the remains of the house - namely, the walls and a portico. Ivy climbs the south side, as if to look out over the gardens and out to the vast waters of the lake. It parallels the slender trees with multiple divided trunks that gnarl and wind around gazebo columns with ladylike elegance.
The gardens are popular with wedding parties and celebrants of all types. Birds chirp happily overhead. Periodically, flocks of swallows dart over the cliffs. Some fly alone. Even the rush hour traffic in Kingston Road doesn't break the spell.
There are several other parks dotting the Bluffs' edge. However, no continuous path links one cliffside park to another. It's best to follow side streets, heading east.
The next main green space is Scarborough Bluffs Park. It overlooks Bluffers' Park, the largest and most developed section of the cliffs, way down at the very foot of Brimley Road. The view is spectacular. Several species of birds chirp and twitter amongst the trees. The grass is high and redolent with honeysuckle. You can ride or walk along the edge of the Bluffs here.Scarborough Bluffs Park has more than great views. There are tennis courts and a sprinkler park that springs to life when you push the button. I get a spray of water on my face and arms. It's a magnet for dog owners also.
Farther east are the Cathedral Bluffs and, finally, Guildwood Park. The latter is next to the Guild Inn Architectural Gardens, which look out over the long path by the lakeshore.
Pictures of Bluffers Park and Guildwood Park (farther east):
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